JP2006099706A - Commodity trade assist device and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an assist device for attaining commodity management and other accurate commodity trade which do not cause commodity omission when commodity is ordered without increasing burdens in both a real store and a virtual store in exhibiting a commodity traded at the real store in the virtual store. <P>SOLUTION: A commodity trade assist device 1 comprises a communication unit 17 for communicating with a store terminal which records and manages information on commodities so as to assist the store in exhibiting a commodity traded at the store in a virtual store and managing it, a database 16 where is stored commodity information sent from the store terminal as information on the commodity to be sold over the network, and an application server (AS) having a function of creating and posting the explanation about the commodity shown on the commodity guide page of the virtual shop on the basis of the commodity information sent from the store terminal and a function of transmitting a reply of the information on the commodity to be sold over the network at predetermined time intervals to the store terminal, updating the information in the database according to the information sent back from the store terminal in response to the request, receiving information on an order of the commodity and updating the information in the database. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a product transaction support system used for buying and selling various products and other business transactions. Specifically, the present invention relates to a product transaction support apparatus for operating such a product transaction support system, and a computer program for executing the function of the system.

  In electronic commerce for buying and selling products via the Internet, a shopping mall (virtual shopping street), which is a collection of net shops (virtual stores) in which various product information is posted, is often used.

  On the other hand, sales management systems such as a POS (Point of Sales) system that processes product information at the point of sale are used in stores that actually handle sold products (referred to as “real stores” when distinguished from virtual stores). . In that case, in a personal computer as a terminal processing device (hereinafter referred to as a store terminal) used in a store, product information for each sale target product to be traded in the store, sales information and customer information processed based on the product information, etc. Business application as a means to execute the function to update the sales information and customer information based on the order contents from the customer and the function to issue various slips based on the sales information and customer information. Is stored.

  Even in a store adopting such a sales management system, it is desirable to exhibit in a shopping mall, that is, to post product information, in order to increase sales opportunities for the product. However, in a conventional shopping mall, an exhibitor or a store participant is specified according to a dedicated exhibition screen format on the Web provided by the shopping mall operator, separately from the sales management system operated and managed at the store terminal. File format data must be uploaded manually. Similarly, orders, that is, order processing, must be managed on a dedicated order screen prepared by the shopping mall operator.

  In addition, conventionally, when exhibiting (opening) in multiple shopping malls or performing order processing, work and management must be performed on a dedicated screen provided by each shopping mall, or a common specification Even if there is a screen, data processed or managed by the POS system by the store terminal cannot be automatically sent to a plurality of shopping malls for display.

  In addition, conventional business applications, particularly ASP (Application Service Provider) models exist as tools for realizing exhibition and order management functions and payment functions, but none provide functions linked to the POS system. . On the other hand, in order to introduce a system that can search inventory in-house in real time, the cost of server construction and management has become a major burden.

  On the other hand, it is conceivable to make the existing sales management system perform sales management at the net shop, but for that purpose, it is necessary to change the business application significantly or to construct another system. However, there is a problem that the system development cost becomes enormous and the burden is too much for a small store.

  Therefore, a sales management device that can easily link a net shop construction / operation system to the sales management system without changing the existing (actual store) sales management system has been proposed. As shown in Patent Document 1 below, it has a function of creating a product information page having contents selected arbitrarily from a group of products to be sold in a real store as a target product to be exhibited in an online shop. , Sales that have the function of updating sales information on the actual store based on the product order information ordered on the net shop side, and can link the construction of the net shop and the management of the net sales to the existing sales management system It is a management device.

  Specifically, in addition to the existing sales management system that updates the contents of the slip details / slip total file based on the input slip data, a net shop construction / operation system is built at the store terminal. When a net sales target product is arbitrarily selected and specified from a product master file that stores and manages the product information for each sales target product that is traded in an actual store when the net shop is constructed, information on the selected product is posted. Create a product information page with the contents and send it to the shopping mall site. Further, it receives the order information of the net sales ordered at the net shop side, and updates the contents of the slip details / slip total file based on the order information.

  In this way, according to the sales management device in which the online shop construction / operation system is built in the store terminal, the online shop construction / operation system can be changed to the existing sales management system without changing the existing sales management system for actual stores. Accordingly, it is possible to easily cooperate with each other, and it becomes possible to add online sales as a new sales means. In this case, the product to be sold at the actual store can be directly used as the product to be sold online, and it is possible to prevent an accident such as the absence of a product ordered by online sales or the difference in product content. In addition, there is no burden of manually entering order information for online sales, no posting errors, etc., and online sales orders can be processed reliably, enabling management of online sales to be reflected in daily operations. Become.

JP 2003-85254 A

  However, if the product to be traded is a product that needs to be managed one by one, i.e., a single product (hereinafter referred to as “single product management product”), such as second-hand goods and high-mix low-volume products, the same type or the same type Since the degree (the state of the product) and the price are different, it is necessary to manage all the products. In particular, second-hand goods are purchased (purchased or consigned) and sold irregularly, and are limited to one item. Therefore, the transaction management requires rapidity. For example, when selling second-hand goods, it is necessary to quickly cancel the exhibition, and if there is a time lag in updating the information, there will be a lack of goods ordered on the net. In order to prevent such shortages, products (inventories) displayed in actual stores and products (inventories) information displayed in virtual stores must be managed at the same time. There is a problem that the reliability of the product information is reduced and the sales opportunities are reduced by reducing or losing the place of exhibition in the shopping mall.

  In response to this problem, the store terminal as the sales management device disclosed in Patent Document 1 collectively collects the online sales order information stored in the linked sales details file when the online order input module is activated. This is a batch process for online order entry, and the product (inventory) of the actual store and the product (inventory) information of the virtual store are not managed at the same time. It is difficult to lose.

  Further, Patent Document 1 discloses a technical idea of performing net order input processing in real time by fetching order information every time an order for management net sales is generated and starting a net order input module. However, in that case, it is necessary to start the net order input module of the terminal device (store terminal) every time there is an online order at the actual store side, and to perform the net order input processing, and the burden of the processing at the actual store side Will increase. Therefore, it is conceivable to perform processing for synchronizing information on the actual store side based on the order information on the shopping mall site side, but this is a burden on the shopping mall site side, and on the shopping mall site side, Information processing is not possible in practice.

  The object of the present invention is to manage products that do not cause a shortage condition when placing an order without increasing the burden on either side of the actual store or the shopping mall when the product handled in the actual store is exhibited in a virtual store. It is providing the merchandise transaction support apparatus for achieving a merchandise transaction.

The present invention is a product transaction support device that supports the management of listings and other items in virtual stores for products traded in stores,
A communication means for communicating via a network with a terminal device of a store that records and manages information on the product;
A database for storing information on products sent from the terminal device and received by the communication means as net sales target products of the store;
Based on the product information sent from the terminal device and received by the communication means, an explanation of the product to be posted on the product guide page of the virtual store and other articles are created, and the product article is posted on the product guide page Product article creation means to
A signal requesting a reply of information related to the net sales target product of the store is transmitted from the communication means to the terminal device at a predetermined time interval (for example, every 30 seconds), and a reply from the terminal device in response to the request And updating product information based on the order information received from the product guide page and updating the database information based on the order information. It is characterized by that.

  The present invention has the embodiment shown in FIGS.

  The merchandise transaction support apparatus 1 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is a single-item managed product (hereinafter referred to as “product” when these are generically referred to as “collected product”) such as a sale product (new product) and / or a second-hand product by ordinary purchase. In conjunction with the sales management system of the store to handle, it performs processing such as exhibition to the virtual store, order receipt, inventory management, etc. Stock information 11, image information 12, and order information 13 are stored as product information of A) (referred to as a member store). The merchandise transaction support apparatus 1 is connected to a terminal device (store terminal) such as a personal computer (PC) installed in the member store A via the communication network 2.

  The merchandise transaction support apparatus 1 includes a computer storing a program for causing a computer to execute a task for supporting article creation and sales management related to merchandise handled by a member store, and its processing, and its peripheral devices.

  The member store A is, for example, an actual store of a business operator that operates a business for selling new products or a mediation for selling used items. The store terminal (or a server that operates the sales management system) stores inventory information 21, image information 22, order information 23, and sales information 24 as product information. The product information is synchronized with information stored in the database of the product transaction support device 1.

  The merchandise transaction support apparatus 1 has a function of creating explanations of other merchandise and other merchandise articles and placing them on the merchandise information page of the virtual shop in order to list the merchandise of the member store A in the virtual shop. Such a merchandise information page is operated not only on an existing site (hereinafter referred to as an affiliated site) 6 on the Internet but also on a Web site 10 operated by the product transaction support device 1 or a relay device 3 (FIG. 8) described later. It is provided on the website 30 (FIG. 12) dedicated to member stores. The merchandise transaction support apparatus 1 includes means for receiving order information of a product selected by the user of the virtual store and transmitting it to the store terminal of the member store A that holds the product. The store terminal receives the order information of the product and updates the store inventory information.

  FIG. 2 shows details of product information and the like stored in the store terminal (PC) of the member store A. That is, the inventory information 21 stores an inventory table and an inventory status table, the image information 22 stores an image management table and image folder, and the order information 23 stores an order table. The sales information 24 stores a sales table.

  The inventory table shows the product number, industry (number assigned to each industry), classification (for example, number indicating “watch”), manufacturer (name), model (number indicating model), type ( Model number) Consists of a table describing other necessary data. The inventory status table includes a table in which the presence / absence of inventory, quantity, and manufacturer are described for each purchased product.

  When image information is included in the product information as in the later-described embodiment (FIG. 7), the image management table corresponds to the image folder that captures and stores the product image, the product number, the processing store (name) Or a number), valid (flag), image size, presence / absence of an image, and a comment.

  The order table includes a table in which an order number, a product number, a customer number, a name and an address, an amount, and the like are described for the ordered product.

  The sales table is composed of a table in which an order number, a product number, a customer number, a name and address, an amount, and the like are described for the sold products.

  FIG. 3 shows details of product information stored in the product transaction support device 1. That is, the inventory information 11 stores an inventory table and an inventory status table, the image information 12 stores an image management table and image folder, and the order information 13 stores an order table. These tables are of the same type as those stored in the store terminal of the member store A shown in FIG.

  Further, as will be described later (FIG. 12), the shopping cart 15 in the table format is also stored in the database of the commodity transaction support apparatus 1. This includes the customer ID (number or symbol), product number, business type (number given for each business type), classification (for example, a number indicating “watch”), manufacturer, It consists of a table describing the model, type and other necessary data.

In the member store A shown in FIG. 2, the merchandise information and the like are processed in the following procedure using the store terminal.
(1) Purchasing merchandise and setting data in the inventory table for the merchandise (single or plural).
(2) Refer to the inventory table, and associate the image with the product image taken in as described later.
(3) The image information of the product is set in the image management table.
(4) The image data of the product is set in the image folder.
(5) Data (inventory information) in the inventory table and inventory status table is sent to the commodity transaction support apparatus 1 via the network 2.
(6) When order information comes from the commodity transaction support apparatus 1 via the network 2, the information is written in the order table.
(7) Perform sales management based on the data in the order table.
(8) The inventory status table is updated for the product for which the order has been received (the status is “shipped” indicating sold). Data replaced by this update (data different from that before the update) is referred to as “difference data”.
(9) Write data to the sales table and end the sales management process.
(10) The inventory status table data (difference data) is periodically sent to the commodity transaction support apparatus 1 via the network 2.

  According to the sales management system of the member store A as described above, a commercially available PC can be used as a store terminal, and the number of items handled per year is extremely large (for example, one million items) ) It is easy to capture images taken with a digital camera as will be described later. Data can be exchanged in real time with the commodity transaction support apparatus 1 via a communication network. Functions and benefits such as easy, sales, inventory, and customer analysis can be obtained.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the contents of information processing performed between the store terminal of the member store A and the Web site 10 and the commodity transaction support device 1.

The following processing is performed between the store terminal of the member store A and the merchandise transaction support apparatus 1.
(1) In the member store A, upload processing of new stock and image information is executed from the stock information 21, and in the commodity transaction support device 1, database registration processing of stock and image information is executed, and these data are stored in stock information. 11 is written.
(2) In the member store A, the inventory information 21 is deleted from the inventory information 21, and in the merchandise transaction support apparatus 1, the inventory data update process is executed and the inventory information 11 is updated.
(3) In the merchandise transaction support device 1, the stock information 11 is updated (reserved) according to an order from the website, and the stock information 21 of the member store A is processed as stock data.
(4) At the member store A, upload processing of inventory image data is executed from the image information 22, and at the merchandise transaction support device 1, registration processing of inventory image data is executed and those data are written in the image information 12. .
(5) The merchandise transaction support apparatus 1 executes processing for searching for order information from the Web site in the order information 13, and the member store A executes processing for writing the order settlement information based on the order information in the order information 23. Is done.

The following processing is performed between the Web site 10 and the commodity transaction support apparatus 1.
(6) A process of searching for inventory and image data in the inventory information 11 of the commodity transaction support apparatus 1 is executed as necessary or periodically, and the Web site 10 acquires and displays the inventory and image data. Processing is executed.
(7) The Web site 10 executes a process of selecting a product to be posted on the HP and writing the product data into the shopping basket 15 of the product transaction support device 1. The merchandise transaction support apparatus 1 checks the stock status based on the information of the shopping cart 15.
(8) When an order is generated on the website 10, the merchandise transaction support apparatus 1 executes an inventory update (reservation) process based on an order from the website, generates order information, and writes it in the order information 13.

  Next, FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment. This merchandise transaction support apparatus 1 has a function of supporting the merchandise transaction management such as orders received for each site at the same time in addition to the website 10 and a plurality of affiliated sites 6A, 6B, 6C,. It is.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the contents of information processing performed between the store terminal of the member store A and the virtual store side (Web site and a plurality of partner sites) and the merchandise transaction support apparatus 1 in FIG. In this case, in addition to the processing shown in FIG. 4, the following processing is performed between each affiliated site and the commodity transaction support apparatus 1.
(9) A process of searching for inventory and image data in the inventory information 11 of the commodity transaction support apparatus 1 is executed as necessary or periodically, and the affiliate site acquires and displays the inventory and image data. Is executed.
(10) When an order is generated at the affiliated site, the merchandise transaction support apparatus 1 executes inventory update (reservation) processing based on the order, generates order information, and writes it in the order information 13.

  In this embodiment, the inventory data managed by the sales management system of the member store A can be simultaneously exhibited in a plurality of shopping malls. As for the order processing, the server operating the store terminal or the sales management system receives the order data from the shopping mall as the seller, and automatically updates the data that is simultaneously displayed in other shopping malls. can do. This makes it possible for products managed by the sales management system to be listed in multiple shopping malls at the same time and managed to receive orders, greatly expanding product management opportunities and receiving from the listing. The work load leading to order management can be greatly reduced.

  Next, in the third embodiment shown in FIG. 7, at the member store A, the digital camera 24 is used to take an image of a product to be exhibited in the virtual store, and the image is taken into an image processing device 25 such as a PC. The image information 22 is set in correspondence with the product data. The data of the image information 22 is transferred to the commodity transaction support apparatus 1 as described above. The product transaction support device 1 has a function of storing image data of the product as image information 12.

  For example, when purchasing merchandise G such as shoes at the member store A, after the purchase staff performs purchase processing on the PC of the store terminal, the second-hand product is photographed with the digital camera 24 and the image is transferred to the image processing device 25. The image data 22 is captured and associated with the data of the purchased product obtained from the PC of the store terminal (the product is specified by the barcode), and the image is captured and stored as image information 22. Then, the image information 22 together with the inventory information 21 can be sent to the commodity transaction support apparatus 1 connected via the network 2 and uploaded in real time to the virtual store from here.

  In this case, the information processing performed between the store terminal of the member store A and the virtual store side (Web site 10 and partner site 6) and the commodity transaction support device 1 is substantially the same as that shown in FIG. It is.

  Conventionally, when uploading images shot with a digital camera online, save the shot images on a computer, adjust the image size and image quality, and upload the image data along with the product data online. Had to do work to do. However, according to this embodiment, simply by capturing an image of a digital camera, the image is automatically processed and stored in a preset image size and image quality, and the barcode-managed product code is associated with the image information. Displayed online in real time. Thereby, it is possible to greatly reduce the work required for image processing for exhibiting in a shopping mall and uploading of merchandise and image data.

  Next, in the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 8, one company has a plurality of actual stores (for example, member stores A, B, and C of company X) and are installed in those stores. The product transaction support device 1 is connected to a terminal device (store terminal) such as a PC via a communication network 2 and a relay device 3 including an ASP server.

  The relay device 3 has a function of posting product information of each member store of the business operator on the homepage (HP) of the Web site 10 or the affiliated site 6, and searching or settlement of inventory information in real time. Therefore, the relay device 3 has inventory information 31, image information 32, and order information 33, similar to the commodity transaction support device 1.

FIG. 9 shows a procedure of processing performed between the plurality of shop terminals of one business operator and the virtual shop side (Web site 10 and partner site 6) by the commodity transaction support device 1 and the relay device 3 of FIG. FIG. In this case, among the processes shown in FIG. 6, (1) to (5) are executed by the relay device 3. That is,
(1) In the member store A, upload processing of new stock and image information is executed from the stock information 21, and in the relay device 3, database registration processing of stock and image information is executed, and these data are stored in the stock information 31. Written.
(2) In the member store A, the inventory data 21 is deleted from the inventory information 21, and in the relay device 3, the inventory data update process is executed and the inventory information 31 is updated.
(3) An update (reservation) process of the inventory information 11 of the merchandise transaction support apparatus 1 and the inventory information 31 of the relay apparatus 3 is executed by an order from the website, and the inventory data is retained in the inventory information 21 of the member store A. Is executed.
(4) At the member store A, an upload process of inventory image data is executed from the image information 22, and at the relay device 3, a registration process of inventory image data is executed and the data is written in the image information 32.
(5) The merchandise transaction support apparatus 1 executes a process of searching for order information from the Web site in the order information 13, and the relay apparatus 3 also executes a process of searching for information in the order information 33. Then, a process of writing the order settlement information based on the order information into the order information 23 is executed.

In addition to the above (1) to (5) and (6) to (10) shown in FIG. 6, the following processing is performed between the commodity transaction support device 1 and the relay device 3.
(11) Update processing of the inventory information 31 of the relay device 3 and the inventory information 11 of the commodity transaction support device 1.
(12) Update processing of the image information 12 of the commodity transaction support device 1 accompanying the update of the image information 32 of the relay device 3.
(13) Update processing of the order information 33 of the relay device 3 and the order information 13 of the commodity transaction support device 1.

  Next, in the fifth embodiment shown in FIG. 10, there are a plurality of actual stores (hereinafter, each store is referred to as a member store A, B, C,...), And each store terminal installed in those stores. And relay apparatus 3A, 3B, 3C comprising individual ASP servers that are connected via communication network 2 are installed. Each relay device 3A, 3B, 3C publishes product information of each member store on the homepage (HP) of the website 30A, 30B, 30C installed and managed for each corresponding member store A, B, C. Or has a function to search or settle inventory information in real time. Therefore, each relay device has inventory information 31, image information 32, order information 33, and a shopping basket 35, similar to the commodity transaction support device 1.

FIG. 11 shows processing performed between the store terminal of each member store and the virtual store side (Web site 10 and partner site 6) by the commodity transaction support device 1 and the relay devices 3A, 3B, 3C of FIG. It is a figure which shows a procedure. In this case, in addition to the processing (1) to (13) shown in FIG. 9, the following processing is performed in each relay device.
(14) As necessary or periodically, a process of searching for inventory and image data in the inventory information 31 of each relay device is executed, and the Web site 30 for each member store managed by each relay device Processing for acquiring and displaying the stock and image data is executed.
(15) The Web site 30 executes a process of selecting a product to be posted on the HP and writing the product data to the shopping basket 35 of the relay device. Each relay device checks the stock status based on the information of the shopping cart 35.
(16) When an order is generated at the Web site 30, the relay device executes inventory update (reservation) processing based on the order from the Web site, generates order information, and writes it in the order information 33.

  In this embodiment, the product information managed by the store terminal connected to the host server of the sales management system of each member store is displayed on the homepage 30A, 30B, 30C for each member store, and those products are also displayed. Information can be searched and displayed in real time. That is, by sending product information bar code-managed at a plurality of store terminals to the host server, and determining on the host server side based on the management ID assigned to each store, Only product information managed by the member store sales management system can be displayed, searched and updated in real time. As a result, it is not necessary for each member store to voluntarily update the information, and it is possible to display inventory information and the like on the homepage in real time simply by linking to the product database in the host server. it can.

  According to the present invention, a product transaction support method executed in the product transaction support apparatus is provided. The method is executed based on a program that causes a computer to realize a function as a commodity transaction support business server. A recording medium on which the program is recorded is also included in the present invention.

  According to the present invention, the inventory managed by the sales management system by the operation of the terminal device of the store is automatically exhibited at the virtual store of the shopping mall at the same time. And since the store inventory and the exhibition inventory are managed synchronously in real time, the inventory work and information update work are greatly reduced, and the online inventory disappears in real time when managed separately at the store, so the above-mentioned Occurrence of a shortage condition is also avoided.

  In addition, products can be displayed online at the same time as they are displayed at the store, so the opportunity for single item management is greatly expanded, and all stock products that are sold and managed in stores and warehouses are displayed. By doing so, the number of online listings can be dramatically increased.

  As described above, the commodity transaction support device of the present invention has a function of linking a sales management system connectable to the support device or the relay device with the WEB site. Therefore, the inventory data managed by the sales management system is It can be provided as exhibition information of a shopping mall without any special work. Also, with respect to the order receiving process, by receiving the order receiving data from the shopping mall of the exhibition destination, the data simultaneously exhibited in other shopping malls can be automatically updated.

  FIG. 12 shows the configuration of a merchandise transaction system that manages merchandise transaction such as listings and orders received at virtual stores on the network using the merchandise transaction support apparatus of the present invention.

  This system works in conjunction with the sales management system of a business operator (client) who sells purchased products (new) or purchased second-hand goods or mediates the sale of consigned products, and exhibits and receives orders at virtual stores. In the configuration example shown in the figure, there are a plurality of stores of such businesses (member stores A, B,...), Such as PCs installed in those stores. The product transaction support device 1 of the embodiment is connected to a terminal device (store terminal) via a communication network 2.

  Instead of the merchandise transaction support device 1, the relay device 3 described above is connected to a specific store (for example, the member store B) via the communication network 4. As will be described later, the relay device 3 is configured to perform product transaction support similar to the product transaction support device 1.

  The commodity transaction support apparatus 1 and the relay apparatus 3 are also connected via the communication network 5. The Internet is used as the communication networks 2, 4 and 5 for connecting these devices.

  The product transaction support device 1 creates a description of the products and other product articles in order to display the products of each member store A, B,... It has the function to do. Such a merchandise information page is displayed on an existing shopping mall (partner site) 6 on the net, a web site 10 operated by the merchandise transaction support device 1, or a web site 30 dedicated to a specific member store operated by the relay device 3. Provided.

  As display examples of these product information pages, FIG. 13 shows the screen of the affiliated site 6, FIG. 14 shows the screen of the Web site 10, and FIG. 15 shows the screen 30A of the Web site 30, respectively.

  Store terminals generally record product information for each sale target product that is traded in stores, sales information and customer information processed based on the product information, and the sales information and customer information are based on the order contents from the customer. A personal computer (PC) storing a business application for executing a function for issuing various vouchers based on sales information and customer information, and its peripheral devices. In addition to this configuration, the store terminals of each member store A, B,... Transmit processing for transmitting stock information 21 and image information 22 stored as product information in the memory of the PC or other storage means. And a reception processing unit 27 for receiving order information sent from the virtual store side as will be described later.

  As described above, the merchandise transaction support device 1, the relay device 3, or the store terminal may be one or more. Further, the number of websites and partner sites is not limited to one, and a plurality of websites and partner sites may be used or installed depending on the scale of the entire system (for example, the number of member stores).

  The merchandise transaction support device 1 is directly or indirectly via the network with the store terminals of each member store A, B,... (In the system configuration of FIG. 12, via the relay device 3). Based on the communication device 17 for communication, the database 16 for storing information on single-item managed products sent from the store terminal and received by the communication device 17 as the net sales target products of each member store, and the product information Creates a description of the product to be posted on the product information page of the virtual store and other articles, functions as a product article creation means to be posted on the product information page, and a signal for requesting a reply of information on the net sales products of each member store Is transmitted from the communication device 17 to the store terminal at a predetermined time interval (usually every 30 seconds), and the information in the database 16 is updated based on a reply to the request. Receiving the product order information from the store, and a application server AS which functions as a commodity information updating means for updating information of the database 16 based thereon.

  The database 16 stores the stock information 11, the image information 12, and the order information 13 described above in a table format, as well as a category master (table) 14 in which products to be sold are classified by type and manufacturer, and from the virtual store side. A shopping basket (table) 15 for temporarily storing the transmitted order information is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 18, the category master 14 includes three types: a website category master 14a, an affiliate site category master 14b, and a Web-affiliated site category correspondence master 14c.

  The Web site category master 14a is configured such that each product is classified into a business type (for example, “brand” representing a manufacturer), a type (for example, “watch”), a classification (for example, “watch”), a manufacturer (name), and a model (model). ) To distinguish (specify).

  The affiliated site category master 14b is different from the website for each affiliated site, that is, category ID (for example, 10-digit number), type (for example, accessory, clock), classification (for example, “brand watch”), manufacturer The product is distinguished (specified) by (name) and model (model).

  Therefore, a Web-affiliated site category correspondence master 14c is prepared for associating the classification of the website with each affiliated site for one product. This consists of the model name of each product as the center, the items of the Web site category master 14a before it, and the category ID of the category master 14b of each affiliated site A, B,. ing.

  12 again, the communication device 17 stores inventory data 11 and image data that are directly or indirectly sent from the store terminals of the member stores A, B,... An inventory data processing unit 18 and an image data processing unit 19 for processing and sending each file of the image information 12 and an order data processing unit 20 for sending the order information 13 from the virtual store side to each member store as order data. And.

  The function of the application server AS is configured by a computer program that causes the commodity transaction support apparatus 1 to execute operations of “inventory search” and “order processing” described later. Further, as shown in FIG. 16, the operation includes website product information processing, affiliate site product information processing, website order processing, and affiliate site order processing.

  FIG. 17 is a flowchart of the “stock search” operation by the application server AS. This operation starts with the first “request message reception” (ST1), and determines whether or not the message is a message from a Web site (ST2). The request message includes a category as a keyword for specifying the product. As shown in FIG. 16, the categories are classified into a business type (for example, “brand”), a type (for example, “clock”), a classification (for example, “watch”), a manufacturer, and a model.

  If the determination result of ST2 is “Yes”, a website product information search is performed (ST3). As shown in FIG. 18, this search is to search the category of the product designated by the above message with reference to the Web site category master 14a and extract the corresponding category. Then, the product inventory data of the website is extracted based on the extracted category (ST4).

  On the other hand, if the determination in ST2 is “No”, a partner site product information search is performed (ST5). As shown in FIG. 18, this search is performed by referring to the Web-affiliated site category correspondence master 14c and searching for the category ID of each affiliated site A, B,. When the category ID of the corresponding affiliate site is extracted, the affiliated site category master 14b is referred to based on the extracted category ID, the category of the product designated by the message is searched, and the corresponding category is extracted. Then, based on the extracted category ID, product inventory data of each partner site is extracted (ST6).

  The product inventory data of the Web site or affiliated site thus extracted is returned to the Web site or affiliated site that requested it (ST7), and the search is completed.

  FIG. 19 is a flowchart of the “order processing” operation by the application server AS. This operation is common to orders received from the Web site 10 and orders received from the affiliated site 6.

  First, when there is a product order from the Web site 10 or the affiliated site 6, “stock information check” is performed (ST11). That is, with reference to the inventory information 11, it is determined whether or not the product designated by the order information stored in the shopping basket 15 is in stock (ST12). As a result, in the case of “in stock”, the product settlement OK (tradable) is issued (ST13), and in the case of “out of stock”, the product settlement NG (sold) is issued (ST14). Then, the information of the shopping basket 15 is updated (ST15), and the operation ends.

  In FIG. 12 again, the relay device 3 is similar to the inventory information 11, the image information 12 and the order information 13 of the merchandise transaction support device 1, and the inventory information 31, the image information 32 and the order information 33 are synchronized with the merchandise information of the member store B. The order information 33 stores order information sent from the shopping basket 35 of the Web site 30. Further, it has a function of storing the sales information 34 of the member store B.

  Further, as will be described later, the relay device 3 receives product information such as inventory information from the transmission processing unit 36 that performs processing for transmitting the above information to the product transaction support device 1 and the store terminal of the member store B. And a reception processing unit 37 that performs processing for the purpose. The transmission processing unit 36 includes an inventory data processing unit, an image data processing unit, and an order data processing unit, and the reception processing unit 37 includes an inventory data processing unit, an image data processing unit, an order data processing unit, and a sales data processing unit. ing. The sales information of the member store B is received and processed by the sales data processing unit of the reception processing unit 37 and stored.

  Hereinafter, operations of the commodity transaction support apparatus 1 and the relay apparatus 3 constituting the commodity transaction system of FIG. 12 will be described.

  FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure of communication processing performed between the store terminal PC or the relay device 3 by the communication device 17 of the commodity transaction support device 1.

  First, when a transmission message from the store terminal or the relay device 3 is received (ST21), the reception log is output (recorded) to the log file 40 (ST22). The recorded contents are time, request source, and request message contents. Thereafter, it is determined which of the following four requests (1) to (4) is the message (ST23). The following steps are executed according to the determination result.

(1) When it is determined that the request is for image data registration (ST24) As described above, the image data registration is performed in the database 16 as the image information 12 for posting the product image information 22 created on the member store side on the site. Is to store. Since the message contains one or more product images to be registered, the image data processing unit 19 of the communication device 17 writes the image data into a file for each image. That is, the number of images included in the message is checked (ST25), and image file writing is performed until the total number is reached (ST26). When the writing is finished, an image registration completion message is generated (ST27).

(2) When it is determined as an inventory data registration request (ST28) The inventory data registration is to store the merchandise inventory information 21 of the member store in the database 16 as the inventory information 11 for posting on the site. Since the message includes data of one or more products, the message is checked (ST29), and the product data is registered in the inventory table by the inventory data processing unit 18 of the communication device 17 for each product. At the same time, it is registered in the inventory status table indicating the inventory status, that is, the presence or absence of the product. More specifically, the number of data of inventory products included in the message is checked (ST30), and registration to the inventory table (ST31) and registration to the inventory status table (ST32) are performed until the total number is reached. When registration is completed, a data registration completion message is generated (ST33).

(3) When it is determined as an inventory data update request (ST34) Inventory data update is to update the inventory information 11 when a product is sold at a member store. Since the message includes one or more update data, the message is checked (ST35), and the update data is registered in the inventory table by the inventory data processing unit 18 of the communication device 17 for each inventory product. At the same time, it is also registered in the inventory status table. Specifically, the number of update data included in the message is checked (ST36), and the inventory table is updated (ST37) and the inventory status table (ST38) until the total number is reached. When the update is completed, a data update completion message is generated (ST39).

(4) When it is determined as an order data transmission request (ST40) Order data transmission is performed by transmitting to the member store or the relay device 3 order information 13 indicating whether there is an order for the product posted on the site, that is, whether there is an order. is there. When there is a transmission request, the order data processing unit 20 of the communication device 17 extracts the data of the ordered products after the specified date and time from the order information 13 (ST41), and the target data for each product, that is, the order data requested to be transmitted. (ST42), if “Yes”, the order information is generated as order data (ST43), and an order data transmission message is generated (ST44). On the other hand, if it is not target data, a message with no order data is generated (ST45).

  In any of the cases (1) to (4), the last generated message (with the generated order data in the case of (4)) is transmitted to the store terminal of the transmission source or the relay device 3 (ST46). Return to the beginning (waiting for message reception).

  FIG. 21 is a flowchart of the transmission processing operation performed by the transmission processing unit 26 of the store terminal.

  First, when a processing request message to be transmitted to the commodity transaction support apparatus 1 or the relay apparatus 3 is generated (ST51), the message log is output (recorded) to the log file 41 (ST52). The recorded contents are time and message contents. Thereafter, it is checked which of the following four requests (1) to (5) is the message (ST53), and the following steps are executed according to the result.

(1) In the case of the image data registration request (ST54) designated by the stock number As described above, the product image to be posted on the site is transmitted from the product image information 22 created on the member store side. Read an image file. That is, the number of images to be transmitted is checked (ST55), and image files are read until the total number is reached (ST56). When all the reading is completed, an image data registration request message is generated (ST57).

(2) In the case of the inventory data registration request (ST58) specified by the inventory number As described above, in order to transmit the inventory data to be posted on the site from the inventory information 21 of the member store, the inventory table is searched (ST59). Whether there is data to be checked is checked (ST60). If there is no corresponding data, the process returns to the beginning. If there is such data, an inventory data registration request message is generated (ST61).

(3) In case of inventory data update request (ST62) specified by the inventory number In order to update the inventory information as described above, the inventory table is searched (ST63), the presence / absence of corresponding data is checked (ST64), and If there is no data, the process returns to the beginning. If there is such data, an inventory data update request message is generated (ST65).

(4) In the case of the inventory data transfer request (ST66) designated by the inventory number The inventory data is transferred by moving the inventory product among a plurality of affiliated stores connected to the relay device 3 like the affiliated store B of FIG. To be done. For example, in the case where the inventory product of the member store B is used as the inventory of another member store C, the store terminal of the member store B generates an inventory data transfer request message (ST67).

(5) In the case of order data transmission request (ST68) As described above, in order to request the transmission of order information, the date and time of the latest order data in its own (the store terminal) database is designated as the specified date and time (ST69). An order data transmission request message is generated (ST70).

  In any of the cases (1) to (5), the process of transmitting the last generated message is performed (ST71), the communication log is output (recorded) to the log file 42 (ST72), and the process returns to the beginning. The contents recorded in the log file are the time, the destination, the content of the transmission message, the result (response), and the content of the response message.

  FIG. 22 is a flowchart of the reception processing operation performed by the reception processing unit 27 of the store terminal.

  Since the signal received by the reception processing unit 27 is data related to inventory information or order information transmitted from the commodity transaction support apparatus 1 or the relay apparatus 3, it is first determined whether the received data is inventory data. (ST81). As a result, in the case of inventory data, the inventory data update process is started (ST82), the own inventory information 21 is updated with the received data (ST83), and when this is completed, an inventory data update completion log is output (recorded). (ST84) and the process returns to the beginning.

  On the other hand, in the case of order data, the received order data is registered in the order information 23 (ST85), and when this is completed, an order data registration completion log is output (recorded) (ST86), and the process returns to the beginning.

  FIG. 23 is a flowchart of the reception processing operation performed when the relay device 3 receives a signal from the store terminal.

  First, when the reception processing unit 37 receives a message from the store terminal or the commodity transaction support apparatus 1 (ST91), the reception log is output (recorded) to the log file 43 (ST92). The recorded contents are time, request source, and request message contents. Thereafter, it is determined which of the following six requests (1) to (6) is the message (ST93). The following steps are executed according to the determination result.

(1) In the case of an image data registration request (ST94) Similar to the reception processing of the communication device 17, for each image included in the received message, the image data processing unit of the reception processing unit 37 writes the image data into a file. . That is, the number of images included in the message is checked (ST95), and image file writing is performed until the total number is reached (ST96). When the writing is completed, an image registration completion message is generated (ST97).

(2) In case of inventory data registration request (ST98) Check the received message containing data of one or more products (ST99), and register the product data in the inventory table by the inventory data processing unit for each product. To do. That is, the number of data of inventory products included in the message is checked (ST100), and registration in the inventory table is performed until the total number is reached (ST101). When registration is completed, a data registration completion message is generated (ST102). And the transmission process part 36 performs the below-mentioned transmission process (ST123). Unlike the case of the communication device 17, there is no inventory status table.

(3) In the case of inventory data update request (ST103) A message including one or more update data is checked (ST104), and the update data is registered in the inventory table by the inventory data processing unit for each inventory product. That is, the number of update data included in the message is checked (ST105), and the inventory table is updated until the total number is reached (ST106). When the update is completed, a data update completion message is generated (ST107). And the transmission process part 36 performs the below-mentioned transmission process (ST123).

(4) In the case of sales data registration request (ST108) The relay apparatus 3 includes a database that records sales data of the member store in which the store terminal connected thereto is recorded as sales information 34. Therefore, the sales data processing unit checks a message including one or more sales data sent from the store terminal of the member store (ST109), and updates the slip table with the sales data. That is, the number of sales data included in the message is checked (ST110), and the slip table is updated until the total number is reached (ST111). When the update is completed, a data registration completion message is generated (ST112).

(5) In the case of an inventory data transmission request (ST113) designated by an inventory number In order to transmit the inventory data requested by the member store, the designated inventory data is searched (ST114) and the message is checked (ST115). Then, a transmission message of the corresponding inventory data is generated (ST116).

(6) In the case of order data transmission request (ST117) As in the reception process of the communication device 17, the order data processing unit extracts data on the ordered products after the specified date from the order information 33 (ST118). Whether the data is subject data is checked (ST119). If “Yes”, the order information is generated as order data (ST120), and an order data transmission message is generated (ST121). On the other hand, if it is not target data, a message with no order data is generated (ST122). In either case, the transmission processing unit 36 performs the following transmission processing (ST123).

  FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing the operation of the transmission process of ST123.

  First, the transmission processing unit 36 checks the parameters received from the reception processing unit 37 (ST131), and determines which of the requests (1), (2), and (3) is received (ST132). The following steps are executed according to the determination result.

(1) In case of inventory data transmission request (ST133) As described above, since the inventory information 21 of the member store is transmitted to the commodity transaction support apparatus 1 as inventory information for posting on the Web site 10, it is included in the above message. It is checked whether the data is Web public data (ST134). As a result, if “No”, the process ends. If “Yes”, the transmission source ID in the header portion of the inventory data transmission request message is changed to the relay ID (ID of the relay device 3) (ST135). An image file transmission message is generated (ST136).

(2) In the case of inventory data update request (ST137) As described above, whether or not the data included in the message is Web published data in order to update the inventory information 11 when a product is sold at a member store. Check (ST138). As a result, if “No”, the process ends. If “Yes”, the transmission source ID in the header part of the inventory data update request message is changed to the relay ID (ID of the relay device 3) (ST139).

(3) In the case of order data transmission request (ST140) The order data transmission is to transmit the order information 13 of the commodity transaction support apparatus 1 to the member store via the relay apparatus 3. In this case, the transmission source ID in the header part of the transmission request message is changed to the relay ID (ID of relay device 3) (ST141).

  After the above processes (1) to (3), a message is transmitted to the communication device 17 of the commodity transaction support apparatus 1 (ST142), a response message is received from the communication device 17 (ST143), and the process ends.

  In FIG. 23 again, in any of the cases (1) to (6), the last generated message is transmitted from the transmission processing unit 36 to the transmission source (ST124), and the process returns to the beginning (waiting for message reception).

  The operations of the commodity transaction support device 1 or the relay device 3 as described above can be processed more quickly by being distributed to a plurality of servers according to the contents of the processing.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment was described, this invention is not restricted to this, What is necessary is just to be able to implement | achieve the goods transaction support system which achieves the above-mentioned objective.

The figure which shows the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the detail of the merchandise information stored in the store terminal of member store A of FIG. The detail of the merchandise information stored in the merchandise transaction support apparatus of FIG. 1 is shown. The figure which shows the procedure of the process performed between the store terminal of member store A and the virtual store side via a merchandise transaction support apparatus. The figure which shows 2nd Embodiment. The figure which shows the procedure of the process performed between the store terminal of member store A and the virtual store side via the merchandise transaction support apparatus of FIG. The figure which shows 3rd Embodiment. The figure which shows 4th Embodiment. The figure which shows the process sequence performed via the goods transaction support apparatus of FIG. The figure which shows 5th Embodiment. The figure which shows the process sequence performed via the goods transaction support apparatus of FIG. The block diagram of the merchandise transaction system which manages merchandise transaction, such as exhibition to a virtual store on the net, and an order. The figure which shows the example of the screen of a tie-up site. The figure which shows the example of the screen of the website operated with a merchandise transaction support apparatus. The figure which shows the example of the screen of the website operated with a relay apparatus. The figure which shows the function of application server AS of FIG. The flowchart of the stock search operation | movement by application server AS. The figure which shows the example of the goods category master stored in the database of FIG. Flow chart of order processing operation by application server AS The flowchart which shows the communication processing operation | movement of the goods transaction support apparatus of FIG. The flowchart which shows the transmission process operation | movement of the shop terminal of FIG. The flowchart which shows the reception process operation | movement of the shop terminal of FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a reception processing operation of the relay device in FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a transmission processing operation of the relay device in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Merchandise transaction support apparatus, 2 ... Network, 3 ... Relay apparatus, 4, 5 ... Network, 6 ... Partner site, 10 ... Web site, 11 ... Inventory information, 12 ... Image information, 13 ... Order information, 14 ... Product Category master, 15 ... shopping basket, 16 ... database, 17 ... communication device, 18 ... inventory data processing unit, 19 ... image data processing unit, 20 ... order data processing unit.

Claims (6)

It is a product transaction support device that supports the management of listings and other management in virtual stores for products traded in stores,
A communication means for communicating via a network with a terminal device of a store that records and manages information on the product;
A database for storing information on products sent from the terminal device and received by the communication means as net sales target products of the store;
Based on the product information sent from the terminal device and received by the communication means, an explanation of the product to be posted on the product guide page of the virtual store and other articles are created, and the product article is posted on the product guide page Product article creation means to
A signal requesting a reply of information related to the net sales target product of the store is transmitted from the communication means to the terminal device at a predetermined time interval, and the information in the database is updated based on a reply from the terminal device in response to the request On the other hand, a product transaction support, comprising: product information updating means for receiving order information of a product placed on the product information page and ordered, and updating information in the database based on the order information apparatus. In the commodity transaction support device according to claim 1,
The product is a single-item managed product, and the product guide page is provided on an existing site on the Internet and a Web site operated by the product transaction support device. In the commodity transaction support device according to claim 1 or 2,
Means for storing image information of the product corresponding to the data of the product to be exhibited in the virtual store in the store;
The product article creation means has a function of posting the image information on the virtual store. In the commodity transaction support apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A relay device connected to the terminal device of the store via a network is provided, and the relay device achieves a function of posting product information of each store in the virtual store, a function of searching for inventory information or making a settlement in real time. A product transaction support device characterized by the above. A program for using a computer to realize a function for supporting the management of listings and other items in a virtual store for products traded in the store,
A function of communicating via a network with a terminal device of a store that records and manages information on the product;
A function for storing information on products sent from the terminal device and received by the communication means as net sales target products of the store;
Based on the product information sent from the terminal device and received by the communication means, an explanation of the product to be posted on the product guide page of the virtual store and other articles are created, and the product article is posted on the product guide page Function to
While transmitting a signal requesting a reply of information related to the net sales target product of the store to the terminal device at a predetermined time interval, while updating the information in the database based on a reply from the terminal device in response to the request, A computer program for receiving order information of a product placed on a product information page and ordering, and executing a function of updating information in the database based on the order information. 6. The computer program according to claim 5, wherein the product is a single item managed product.

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